"Sorry!" The man obviously didn't expect this accident either, and when he saw the person he bumped into stumbling backward, his hand instinctively reached out to support her - only to realize his mistake as soon as he touched her soft arm and caught a whiff of subtle fragrance from her nose. He quickly let go of her hand.

  He took two steps back, lowered his gaze and avoided looking at Song Yishang to show respect. He then said with a hint of embarrassment, "I have some basic knowledge of medicine, I heard that someone in the guest house has fallen ill, but the doctor hasn't arrived yet. I wanted to go and offer my humble assistance, but unexpectedly bumped into you, madam. Please forgive me!"

  Making a bow and apologizing, the wide sleeves with tooth-colored embroidery of bamboo groves, gathered together fluttering like a red crane spreading its wings, elegant beyond words.

  Song Yixiao didn't plan to look at the stranger for long, but the other person's demeanor was indeed not common. Subconsciously, she stole a glance - this man was a head taller than her, with a physique similar to Jian Yu's. His face was like jade, with eyebrows that flew into his temples and eyes that seemed to be filled with emotions all the time, shining brightly. His nose bridge was straight, and his lip color was rosy red.

  Such a handsome appearance is elegant and refined, but also prone to being frivolous.

  But he had a gentle expression, bright eyes, and a straight back like a spear, only feeling upright and open.

  After making a bow, he lowered his head and glanced at the jade hairpin that had fallen to the ground, "This hairpin, of course, is my responsibility."

  Just as Song Yixiao was wondering who he was, she saw her old butler emerge from behind him and say kindly: "This lady, our family's servant hasn't invited a doctor yet, perhaps there's some unexpected event in between. Although my young master is not a famous doctor, he was enthusiastic about it for a while and studied under the imperial physician for several months, so ordinary illnesses are nothing to worry about. Why don't we let my young master take a look at the miss in the courtyard first, to avoid delaying her illness? What do you think?"

  "Today, I have troubled your family so much, and I feel that there is no way to repay you. If the young master mentions compensation for the hairpin again, I will really be ashamed!" Song Yi smiled when she heard this, feeling very embarrassed - she understood what the old steward meant, helping was one thing, but also fearing that something would happen to Si Kong Yulu, and the good house would be tainted with bad luck. From the perspective of the host family, this is also a normal human emotion.

  The problem is that men and women are different, whether it's Cui Kongyi or the future Princess Liang, if she doesn't feel well and asks a doctor to take a look, that's still okay, but to bring in a strange young man, what kind of thing is this?

  Let's just forget about this young master being cured by Sī Kōng Yī Luó for now. What if he can't be cured?

  These two matters, one concerning reputation and the other life - how could Song Yi dare to be the master for Si Kong Yiruo?

  It's good that today, accompanying Xi Kong Yiruo was not just her alone. She expressed gratitude and then revealed a thoughtful expression, "The honey water sent by the housekeeper earlier, my younger sister used some, it seems to have improved a lot..."

  The young master nodded and said: "I'll wait outside the courtyard. If your sister is all right, I won't dare disturb her."

  Song Yixiao felt that she was being unreasonable, as others had provided her with so many conveniences, yet she was stopping the owner from entering his own courtyard just because she was afraid of taking responsibility!

  "All the sisters who are with me have not yet come out of their chambers, and I will go in and say a word to them." Song Yi smiled awkwardly for a moment, but still chose to act rationally. Although she now has Jian Yu Bai as her backing, Jian Yu Bai married her to get a virtuous helper, not to bring a unlucky star into the family.

  It's better for her not to take the risk of offending the Sikuang family unless absolutely necessary.

  So he made up an excuse to step down and said, "If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me!"

  The young master smiled warmly and stopped three zhang away from the gate of the courtyard.

  Song Yi smiled and walked quickly into the courtyard, entering the house to find Wei Yinlian, and told her what had happened in a hurry. Finally, she asked: "...Sister Wei, what do you think we should do about this?"

  Wei Yin's hands and feet were immediately anxious: "The doctor is just two streets away, how come he hasn't arrived yet? Could something have really happened? Why is everything going so wrong today?"

  The maids of the Cui family had been waiting with bated breath, and upon hearing this news, they were on the verge of tears: "Miss Wei, Granny Song, please help my mistress make a decision! My mistress's aura is..."

  Wei Yinlian and Song Yixiao heard the unspoken implication of these words, both jumped in fright, and hastily went into the tent to look - indeed, Si Kong Yiruo's face already had a greenish-gray color, looking not very good!

  "Please invite that young master in first!" Wei Yinlian and Si Kong Yiruo lived across from each other, their families' social status seemingly equal, having grown up together since childhood, so the worries of taking charge for her were not as many as Song Yixiao's.

  This will be a flash of inspiration, gritting his teeth, he said, "Put down the account, and prepare another handkerchief, turn back, cover it on the wrist and stretch out... Since that young master dared to take the initiative, I think he also has some confidence in his medical skills!"

  At this time, Wei Yin was directing everyone to set up, while Song Yi Xiao went out to invite the young master in.

  Originally, both of them were worried in their hearts, fearing that something would happen to Si Kong Yiruo.

  But after the young master came in, Wei Yinlian inside the account suddenly stood up with excitement: "Su Er Gongzi?!"

  She even forgot her manners and exclaimed with joy, "So this is your other courtyard? How wonderful!"

  Looking at her sparkling eyes, Song Yixiao still thought they were familiar with each other. Who knew that the young master and Wei Yinlian exchanged a glance, but like before when he met Song Yixiao, he immediately lowered his head and closed his eyes, saying in surprise: "Does this lady know me?"

  Wei Yin suddenly realized she had lost her composure, and her cheeks flushed bright red. She hesitated for a moment before speaking in a bashful tone: "My brother Wei Pi is from the same year as you in the imperial examination, and he has always... admired your talent."

  "Pausing for a moment, he continued, 'Last year during the Qingming Festival, my older brother was chatting with you across the creek, and I...I just happened to be nearby, so...'"

  This unmarried girl peeking at a man outside is not something pleasant to hear, even if it was unintentional. Although Wei Yinpracticed her words with great admiration for this Su Second Master, she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

  But Su Er didn't have the mood to reminisce about last year's outing, and politely nodded at her, saying: "So you're Wei brother's sister, what a coincidence!"

  He cast his eyes towards the bed and said, "I heard that two of our fellow travelers are ladies who are seriously ill. May I take their pulse to examine them?"

  This time, it really benefited from his help. Until Su Er Gongzi finished treating Shi Kong Yiruo's illness, prescribed a prescription, and fed her a bowl of medicine to stabilize her condition, the servant who went to report back to the Shi Kong Mansion had already made a round trip. The doctor finally arrived late, limping on one leg, saying that he had just rushed over in a hurry and fell off his horse, fainting by the side of the road for a while before waking up!

  This situation made Song Yi laugh awkwardly on this side, and could only secretly vomit blood.

  The people from the Sī Kōng Fǔ brought the carriage of the Grand Duchess Zhēn Yáng, who was the younger sister of the previous emperor and the grandmother of Sī Kōng Yī Luó. The luxurious carriage had a spacious and comfortable soft couch that allowed Sī Kōng Yī Luó to lie down. Therefore, the doctor hastily examined Sī Kōng Yī Luó and thought that the medicine prescribed by Sū èr Gōng Zǐ was suitable for her condition, and she could hold on until they returned to the Sī Kōng Fǔ for further treatment. The people from the Sī Kōng family then hurriedly took their young mistress back home.

  It was indeed the Princess's people who had been sent. Although they were in a hurry to return to the mansion and report back, they did not forget to leave someone behind to express their gratitude.

  Su Er Gongzi has taught even his subordinates with such enthusiasm for the ancient way, so naturally he wouldn't take credit for himself.

  Weiyin Lian and Song Yixiao both bear some responsibility for Shi Kong Yiruo's illness - the former is the main culprit, if she hadn't encouraged her to drink, Shi Kong Yiruo wouldn't have drunk at all; the latter didn't instigate it, but sat by and watched as two female companions made merry, and even if something serious happened, it would be hard to avoid being blamed. With this on their minds, how could they bear to accept that manager's thanks?

  The three of them tacitly understood each other and managed to get rid of the troublemaker.

  Song Yixiao wanted to hurry back to the mansion to tell Jian Yu Bai about the situation, to see if there would be any future troubles; but Wei Yinlian was reluctant to leave and didn't want to go.

  Unfortunately, Su Er Gongzi only responded with polite phrases and no matter how hard Wei Yin tried to find topics to talk about, he just smiled without engaging in conversation. His gaze was especially proper, not daring to overstep even a little, basically staring at the ground one foot in front of him, it's as if he couldn't be more gentlemanly.

  So soon after the Cai family left, Wei Yinxiang reluctantly returned to his own carriage with a sense of loss.

  "That young master doesn't seem like someone who's gotten married?" Song Yi laughed, her carriage running alongside hers. From the swaying curtains of the carriage, she saw that she kept lifting the curtain to look back, and although she could only see the quickly closing gate, she didn't give up. With a mix of amusement and puzzlement, she said, "Looking at the decorations in the courtyard, it's not an ordinary household either. Since you have intentions, why don't you ask your brother to make an appearance and test his attitude? Someone with your talent, I think no one can find fault with, right?"

  Wei Yin listened to this and smiled wryly, saying: "Shan Yun, you really didn't go out much before! You don't even recognize this person?"

  "Ah?" Song Yi smiled and was taken aback, "Is he very famous?"

  "Qingzhou Su Jieyuan." Wei Yinlian looked at her with a speechless expression, "Do you know how old he was when he passed the imperial examination?"

  "How old?"

  "Fourteen, just one year before putting up her hair!"

  Song Yi laughed and heard the words suddenly solemnly: "It's such a great talent!"

  At thirty, one is established in their profession; at fifty, they are a minor official.

  Since ancient times, among the various imperial examinations, the Jinshi examination has been the most prestigious and difficult. This year, a 14-year-old Tongsheng is enough to boast about in his hometown, but a 14-year-old Juren is absolutely a rare talent, unprecedented in history!

  Just now that person looked like he had already added a crown, how could Wei Yinlian still call him Jieyuan? Could it be that after astonishing people with one cry in those years, the imperial examination was unfortunately unsuccessful, and until now he hasn't become a scholar yet?

  Song Yixiao thought to himself that it wasn't strange that he hadn't heard of him before: considering his age, when this person passed the imperial examination as a jinshi, he was probably only five or six years old and wouldn't have known anything about the imperial examinations. Afterwards, this person failed the exams repeatedly and couldn't help but become obscure, and after growing up and going out into society, it's natural that he wouldn't have heard any news about him.

  "Isn't that right?" Wei Yinlian listened to her say that Su Jieyuan was a great talent, and she was more excited than when she heard the praise herself. "The most unexpected thing is that after he became the champion at the age of 14, it can be said that congratulations poured in like a tide, even the Emperor himself praised him as 'Su's jade tree, Qingzhou's fragrant orchid'. At that time, countless people advised him to take the imperial examination immediately - relying on the Emperor's words at that time, as long as he didn't slip up, getting on the list was almost certain! So what do you think he said in response?"

  "What did you say?"

  "He said that under the vast sky, there are countless people who hold jade and grasp pearls, but he was able to become a high school graduate at the age of 14, which is due to two reasons: one is that he received good education from his family since childhood and met with famous teachers; the other is that he had good luck and his writing happened to meet the expectations of his teacher. Wei Yinlian said this with an air of pride, "As for true talent and learning, he still lacks maturity and needs to be honed, which is why he kept a low profile until four years ago, when he came to the imperial capital after both the Empress Dowager and Prince Ji spoke out on his behalf!"

  Next, she was going to tell Song Yixiao that after Su Jieyuan arrived in the capital, he still suppressed his nature and did not show off, deeply buried in his studies, but even so, he could not hide his overflowing talent... However, Song Yixiao, although admiring Su Jieyuan's scholarship, was not infatuated with him like she was. What concerned her upon hearing this was: "The Empress and the Duke of Ji? Is this Jieyuan a younger generation of the imperial clan?"

  "His name is Shaoge, and his courtesy name is Yiyong. He's the youngest son of the Prince of Ji State." Wei Yinlian was visibly disheartened by her question, her expression turning gloomy. "He's also the Emperor's nephew - it's said that during this year's imperial examination, he'll be taking part! Who knows which of the top three places he'll be assigned to?"

  "Those who are young and handsome, entering the top three, are all 'exploring flowers'. " Song Yi smiled to herself, thinking that the exam hadn't even started yet, and he was already worried about which one he could become - but thinking about this middle-aged man's age and temperament, without a doubt, he indeed had the qualifications to be listed among the top three, so she just laughed and said, "At that time, the name 'exploring origin' will have to be changed to 'exploring flower gentleman'!"

  They happened to arrive at the crossroads, and the two were about to part ways. Wei Yinxiang was very satisfied with her prediction: "A 24-year-old Flower Knight is also quite young!" After saying this, he bid farewell to Fang Yu.

  Song Yixiao and others drove the carriage for a while before she suddenly thought: "After talking about Su Jieyuan for half a day, it turns out that she likes this person so much. Why not ask her family to discuss marriage? One is the nephew of the empress, and the other is the younger sister of the crown prince's wife. Isn't it a good match?"

  But this matter has nothing to do with her, so thinking about it is also put aside, and instead thinking about how to tell Jian Xubo about today's events after returning to the mansion.

  However, after returning to the Yan State Duke's mansion, she changed into a casual dress and was on her way to the study when a servant rushed over to report: "There is news from the Hengshan King's palace that the king's consort has given birth half an hour ago, and both mother and daughter are safe!"

  Song Yixiao hastily instructed: "Go to the study and tell your husband - prepare the carriage, I'm going to the Wang Mansion to pay a visit!"